1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to seat covers, and more particularly to a removable seat/backrest cover for covering the seat and/or backrest of a seating structure and having one or more pockets that receive freezable or microwaveable gel packs for providing cooling and heating comfort to a person occupying the covered portion of the seating structure.
2. Background Art
Keeping cool in the summer and warm in the winter is a common problem for people who work outdoors and operate vehicles, for example mail carriers, construction workers, tractor drivers, bus drivers, crane operators, forklift operators, etc., because many of the of the vehicles and construction equipment are not equipped with an air conditioner or heater, nor equipped with electrical accessory receptacles or cigarette lighter receptacles. It is also often desirable for a person when sitting outdoors or enjoying recreational activities to obtain supplemental cooling or warming comfort, for example, when sitting on a lawn chair, beach chair, or other type of seating structure having a seat and backrest, or having no back rest, such as stadium seats and bleachers.
There are several patents directed toward vehicle seat covers that avoid direct contact between the user's skin or clothing and the sitting surfaces.
Hanley, U.S. Pat. No. 5,806,925, discloses a breathable and washable protective seat cover for automobile seats or the like which comprises a multi-layer construction configured to form a pocket at one end that fits over the upper end of the seat and an elongated section that loosely covers the front surfaces of the seat. Layers comprise an absorbent upper layer and a vapor permeable liquid-blocking polymeric membrane lower layer. The upper layer wicks moisture away from the occupant and readily releases it through evaporation, the lower layer provides a breathable property while blocking liquid water, sweat, mud, and the like, and provides a rubbery texture that grips the car seat upholstery to prevent movement or bunching of the seat cover when an individual enters the seat.
There are also several patents directed toward vehicle seat heating and/or cooling apparatus which draw electricity from existing power sources. The patents issued to Fristedt, Shang, Buie, Kadle, Harvie, Esaki, Kawai, Andersson, and Johnson patents are examples of these types of apparatus.
Fristedt et al, U.S. Pat. No. 7,134,715, disclose a heating apparatus for a vehicle seat comprising a temperature sensor that triggers electrical current for preventing seat temperature from falling below a predetermined minimum. It is intended to be used in connection with an electrically heatable seat.
Buie et al, U.S. Pat. No. 5,613,730, teach a portable temperature-controlled seat cover assembly configured to be releasably fitted over both a seat and seat-back. A fluid conduit within a fabric liner is electric-powered via a cigarette lighter adapter. A pump circulates the heated or cooled fluid through the fluid conduit.
Kadle et al, U.S. Pat. No. 7,238,101, disclose a thermoelectric thermally conditioned vehicle seat which augments the conditioned air provided by a conventional HVAC apparatus for cooling or heating the vehicle seat. Pre-conditioned air emanating from the HVAC is used to efficiently cool or heat the seat.
Harvie, U.S. Pat. No. 7,152,412, discloses a portable, battery-operated personal back rest and seat cooling and heating system for providing several hours of high efficiency cooling or heating of a seat cushion and seat-back, a mattress, or the like. The cooling aspect consists of a plurality of reversible thermoelectric cooler modules which are attached to a liquid heat exchanger frame.
Esaki et al, U.S. Pat. No. 5,924,766, disclose a temperature conditioner for a vehicle seat that cools or warms air inside a vehicle while transferring the air from a blower to a plurality of vehicle seat holes based upon the “Peltier effect” which occurs when current passes through two interconnected dissimilar metals or semiconductors. The current drives a transfer of heat from one junction to the other, wherein one junction cools off while the other heats up.
Kawai et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 5,921,858, issued Jul. 13, 1999, teach a ventilator for use with a vehicle seat comprising a cushioned air sheet configured with a plurality of passages through which air may be encouraged to flow. Preconditioned air may be caused to enter an air channel contained within the air sheet and cools or warms the user via a contact surface of the air sheet.
Andersson et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,578,910, disclose a ventilation seat configured with a network of ducts located beneath the seat and having a fan for displacing air through a plurality of centrally-located ducts away from the seat's surface. Once the seat surface conditions have been attained as contemplated, the fan speed is reduced to sustain the occupant's comfort. The fan is arranged to be in fluid contact with the plurality of ducts to assure an efficient air flow from the seat surface through the duct network to the opposite side of the seat.
Johnson, U.S. Pat. No. 5,617,811, discloses a temperature regulated seat pad for a motor boat that taps into the power and heat of the engine used on in-board and out board motor boats to warm or to cool the rider. Hot water that has reached the operating temperature of the motor boat engine is extracted from the circulating water pump, while cool (ambient) water is extracted from the high pressure side of the intake pump. The predetermined seat temperature is attained by appropriately mixing circulating (hot) water from the motor boat engine with ambient (cool) water from the intake pump.
Wong, U.S. Pat. No. 7,070,231 discloses a 12-volt thermoelectric microfiber and mesh self-cooling seat cushion which has a fan in the cushion that plugs into a vehicle's cigarette-lighter socket and circulates air through a plethora of ventilated spaces in the cushion and keeps the user's back cool with a breeze between the user's back and the vehicle seat.
As discussed above, many people work outdoors and operate vehicles and construction equipment such as, for example, mail carriers, construction workers, tractor drivers, bus drivers, crane operators, forklift operators, etc. However, these types of vehicles are typically not equipped with electrical accessory receptacles or cigarette lighter receptacles and, thus, seat covers with electrically powered cooling and heating elements cannot be used. Seat covers with electrically powered cooling and heating elements are also not suited for use when sitting outdoors or enjoying recreational activities, for example, when sitting on a lawn chair, beach chair, or other type of seating structure having a seat and backrest, or having no back rest, such as stadium seats and bleachers.
There are also several patents directed toward apparatus which enables cooling or heating to be portably delivered to users without requiring power obtained from a vehicle engine or its air conditioning system, or from batteries. The patents issued to Baldwin, Leudtke, Owens, and Shang, are some examples of these types of seating apparatus.
Baldwin, U.S. Pat. No. 6,007,572, discloses a thermal seat that includes a seat panel and a back panel, both of which include a first rigid support and a second rigid support along the lateral sides of a central cushioned region, and first and second adjustable side straps attaching the seat panel and the back panel to provide a predetermined angle and a sturdy and comfortable sitting arrangement. The central cushioned region of formed by two foam layers and a thermal unit which includes a flexible envelope and a material that can be heated by a microwave oven or cooled in a refrigerator or freezer, is received within the foam layers of the central cushioned region of the seat panel, the back panel, or both.
Owens, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,545,198; 5,700,284; and 5,357,693 discloses a heating seat cushion and methodology for providing portable, removable heating and/or cooling that is administered locally within a flexible plastic permanently vacuum-sealed envelope. To prevent leakage of heating or cooling material in either liquid or solid form, the envelope includes an absorbent material such as a compressed synthetic sponge. This sealed envelope may be emplaced within an outer envelope having a rubberized coating to render it impervious to water.
Luedtke, U.S. Pat. No. 6,857,954, discloses an apparatus for cooling a seat or chair in the absence of forced air. Comprising a parallel array of thin tubular conduits, it is held in situ by a pair of supports and removes heat from implicated contact surfaces via free convection—upward air flow attributable to a density differential.
Shang, U.S. Pat. No. 6,132,455 discloses a cooling cushion having an encapsulated phase change composition which includes sodium sulfate decahydrate that is activated by the body heat of a seated or reclining person that raises the interface temperature between the person and the cushion surface. The generation of heat by the seated or reclining person raises the interface temperature between the person and the cushion surface to above the melting temperature of the sodium sulfate decahydrate while maintaining for a comfortable cushion/person interface temperature for the seated or reclining person.
There are also several removable seat cooling covers and cushion products for temporarily placement into a child's car seat to cool the seat that are currently being marketed. For example, the “SEAT CHILLER”® manufactured and marketed by Baby Dagny LLC, of Palm Desert, Calif. (www.babydagny.com); the “COLD SEAT”® manufactured and marketed by the Chaden Company LLC, of Phoenix, Ariz. (www.coldseat.com) are elongate flexible one-size-fits-all roll-up ice-pack type cooling devices made of vinyl and flannel having flexible freezable ice packs embedded therein that fit into a child's car seat. The devices are placed in a freezer and then placed on the child's car seat for a short time period, and are removed before buckling the child in. These devices are intended to cool the seat and its buckles and, when removed, the child can comfortably be placed into the car seat. The devices can be used to keep the seat chilled between stops while shopping or anytime the car will be sitting in the hot sun. These manufacturers of these products warn that the child should not be placed on top of the cover or pad.
The “BABYBEECOOL”® car seat cooler pad manufactured and marketed by D D & G Holdings 1, LLC of Phoenix, Ariz. (www.babybeecool.com) is a another removable car seat cooling pad that holds two reusable ice packs and is used to keep and infant car seat, harness, buckles and seat belts cold and the manufacturer warns that the child should never be placed on the pad itself. The pad can be folded into a bag for dual use as a beverage and food cooler. U.S. Pat. No. 7,517,013 also assigned to D D & G Holdings 1, LLC of Phoenix, Ariz. discloses a similar cooling pad that holds two reusable ice packs and is used to cool the surface of an adult sized vehicle seat or seat belt hardware, rather than a person sitting on the pad, and can be folded into a bag for dual use as a beverage and food cooler. After the seat has been cooled, the pad is removed to allow a person to sit in the seat.